Chapter 48: The Ultimate Move for Dealing with a Foul-Mouthed Bratty Girl (Thanks to “Cheese Minnow” for the generous patronage!)

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The wine flowed freely, and cups clinked merrily.

The Sugar Mushroom Maidens brought out bottle after bottle of Bitter Sugar Wine. At the table, the black-haired young man and the pink-skirted witch drank cup after cup, their glasses chiming without pause.

Amazement flickered through the eyes of the onlookers.

Wang Xi spoke words designed to please, making Beve’s laughter tremble through her body like flowers stirred by the wind. The sight was utterly enchanting.

After a while—

When Wang Xi once again reached for the bottle, a slender, pale hand blocked its mouth. An index finger circled lazily around the rim.

He looked up to find Beve’s face flushed crimson, her jade-green eyes hazy. She gave a soft hiccup, embarrassment and irritation flashing across her eyes as though she felt she had made an undignified spectacle of herself.

“That’s enough, Mr. Gai.”

Beve gave him a flirtatious sidelong glance.

“So you planned this from the start. You can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, yet you claimed you couldn’t hold your liquor…”

Compared with Beve’s intoxication, the black-haired young man looked perfectly normal. Only his cheeks and the tips of his ears were faintly red, while his gaze remained clear.

“I truly can’t hold my liquor, Miss Beve,” Wang Xi said apologetically.

He was not lying.

There was no such thing as being able to drink a thousand cups without getting drunk. It was merely that Card was carrying the burden for him.

—“Eat and Drink Like Several Men”

Experience +5.

“Hmph.” Beve clearly did not believe him. She teased, “I concede, all right?”

Ding!

“Target defeated!”

“Would you like to capture Beve’s ability?”

Wang Xi saw that he had achieved his objective and secretly rejoiced.

Yes!

“Card added to the independent card pool.”

In an instant, blue light flashed across the Sugar Witch’s body.

A sphere of light flew out and sank into Wang Xi’s brow.

A blue card!

But why was there only one?

Wang Xi was both surprised and disappointed.

A stream of information poured from the fissure in his mind. He froze for a moment, then came to an understanding.

There were two reasons.

The disparity in strength had been too great, and the method by which he had won had been too simple.

This affected not only the number of cards, but also their quality. He had also learned one of the fundamental rules governing card capture—

Whether the target was killed or merely defeated, there was only one chance to capture a card. After that, no further cards could be obtained from the same target.

Wang Xi felt somewhat hollow inside.

That meant he could never again exploit a loophole like this to capture cards from Beve.

Thank goodness for that single point of Legend. Chaos was clearly much more intelligent now and could answer some basic questions. Otherwise, I would never have learned these rules.

One card was one card. It was a blue card, after all!

His heart burning with anticipation, he turned his gaze toward the others in the room. Everyone here—

apart from himself, who had been seated at the same table as the Sugar Mushroom Maidens—

was an enormous treasure trove!

Even the weakest were Pinocchio and the Wolf Butler.

Two four-star heroes!

Among the three witches, two were five-star heroes, while the last was a Skeleton Legend!

“Hey! What’s there to feel so smug about?”

At that moment, Sophia, the red-hooded girl with twin tails, slammed a hand on the table. Apparently dissatisfied that Beve had conceded, she raised her chin at Wang Xi and said disdainfully:

“I’ll compete with you!”

“What would you like to compete in, Miss Sophia?”

Wang Xi neither grew angry nor annoyed. He simply smiled with elegance.

Sophia looked left and right, then clapped her hands and declared confidently:

“We’ll compete to see who can eat more!”

“…”

Wang Xi remained expressionless on the surface, but inwardly he was laughing with delight.

A pillow delivered just when one is sleepy!

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The “Eat and Drink Like Several Men” card not only increased one’s capacity for alcohol, but also one’s appetite. A contest to see who could eat more? Wasn’t she practically serving him a victory on a platter?

But just as Wang Xi was about to accept, he suddenly grew wary.

No.

He could not compete in this.

In that brief instant, Wang Xi calmly thought the matter through. Unlike Beve’s drinking capacity, Sophia was a Wolf Witch—and clearly a bottomless pit when it came to food. Her appetite was bound to be terrifying.

Even with the support of “Eat and Drink Like Several Men,” he was ultimately only an unusually hearty ordinary human. How could he possibly out-eat a monster?

This brat was foul-mouthed and freakishly strong.

The advantage was not on his side this time…

In the blink of an eye, Wang Xi made up his mind.

He chuckled.

“Miss Sophia, you overestimate me. I normally have the appetite of a little bird and am full after half a loaf of bread… I’m afraid the contest would be over the moment it began, and I wouldn’t be able to give you a satisfying challenge.”

“Hmm… I suppose you’re right.”

Sophia pursed her lips.

“Hmph. At least you have a little self-awareness. You’re as weak as a goblin, but at least your brain works slightly better than theirs. Just slightly.”

She folded her arms and looked down at Wang Xi through her nostrils.

Her crisp voice was laced with mockery.

“So what do you want to compete in? I’ll take you on in anything!”

As she spoke, she flashed a grin, then abruptly changed the subject.

“But this time, unlike the contest with Beve, whoever loses has to get down on the floor, bark like a dog, and declare their submission to the winner.”

“Do you dare?”

The moment she said this, everyone was startled.

Bark like a dog and declare submission…

That was more than a little humiliating.

“Sophia, Mr. Gai is our guest and our messenger. You’re being very rude!”

Beve’s lovely brows drew together.

Sophia had just begun to protest when Lillian set down her utensils and cast her a cool glance.

The twin-tailed girl immediately fell silent, as though someone had snuffed out her fire. She muttered resentfully:

“Fine… fine. If he doesn’t want to bark, then he doesn’t have to. Why are you glaring at me?”

“Then let’s change it. Hmm… we’ll kiss the other person’s hand with the highest respect and courtesy. That’s acceptable, isn’t it?”

“Of course.” Wang Xi smiled. “I have no objection to that wager, Miss Sophia.”

Sophia grinned, certain of victory.

“Then tell me. What do you want to compete in?”

“Miss Sophia, as the Wolf Witch, you are unrivaled in the Forest of Magic…”

Wang Xi showered her with praise. The twin-tailed girl looked pleased, though she only huffed and waved a hand.

“Enough with the nonsense!”

“So I imagine that the corrupted monsters dwelling around Mirror Black Lake are all completely helpless before you.”

“Of course!” Sophia flicked one of her tails and said confidently. “They’re nothing but a flock of chicks!”

“But if they fled into the lake, would you still have a way to deal with them?”

Wang Xi finally revealed the blade hidden beneath his words, smiling innocently.

Sophia furrowed her brows slightly and shot him a look.

“Do you think I’m afraid of water?”

“Of course not, Miss Wolf Witch. So how about we compete to see who can hold their breath underwater longer?”

Wang Xi made his proposal.

Sophia was slightly surprised, but soon wore a smug expression. She might not be especially skilled at this, but she was still bound to be far stronger than a human.

“Fine! Let’s do it! Who’s afraid of whom?”

Everyone grew interested. Beve gave a light laugh and raised a hand, instantly conjuring two enormous transparent bubble candies.

Just as she was about to order the Sugar Mushroom Maidens to bring over some fresh water, Wang Xi waved his hand instead. Several streams of water flew forth and poured into the fishbowl-like spherical candies, filling them to the brim.

“Mr. Gai, you know water magic?”

Beve looked rather surprised.

The others could not help taking a closer look at him.

“Just a little trick. Nothing worth mentioning.”

Wang Xi waved dismissively.

Beve did not press him. She merely used magic to lift the two spherical candies into the air before Wang Xi and Sophia.

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“Begin!”

At the command, the candy spheres instantly descended over their heads. The water inside covered their faces without a single drop escaping.

With their heads submerged, the two exchanged a glance.

Wang Xi saw smugness written across Sophia’s face. The girl even stuck out her tongue and made a face at him.

He merely smiled in return.

The more pleased she was now, the more miserable she would be in a moment.

Unless Sophia was a Fish Witch, he was destined to remain undefeated.

—“Amphibious Creature”

A one-star green card obtained from a corrupted merman. It granted the ability to breathe underwater.

The seconds passed one by one.

Sophia, who had initially been striking poses and generally making a spectacle of herself, gradually realized that something was wrong.

A few minutes of holding one’s breath were manageable; even for a human, that was nothing remarkable. But ten minutes had now passed. She herself was beginning to struggle, while the black-haired young man looked as though nothing unusual was happening at all…

Gloop!

Gluuub!

Sophia’s eyes widened. She opened her mouth and exhaled, bubbles rising through the candy sphere.

She gritted her teeth and held on, unwilling to admit defeat.

Fifteen minutes.

Sophia’s face had turned bright red. Wang Xi, by contrast, remained utterly unaffected and even sent her another smile.

Twenty minutes.

The girl grew increasingly restless, flailing her arms and legs.

Wang Xi gave her a thumbs-up.

Splash—

Sophia finally reached her limit. She yanked the candy sphere from her head, sending water spraying everywhere.

“Huff! Huff!” She panted heavily, staring at the human as though she had seen a ghost. “You… you, you!”

Only then did Wang Xi leisurely remove his own candy sphere. He accepted a towel from one of the Sugar Mushroom Maidens and thanked her.

As he dried his hair, he smiled and said:

“Miss Sophia, you’ve lost.”

“How could a human hold his breath for that long?!” Sophia shook her soaked twin tails, golden eyes flashing with ferocity. “You cheated! You cheated! This ridiculous game doesn’t count!”

“Miss Sophia, I respect you, but you can’t simply make baseless accusations against my good name…”

Wang Xi spoke with utmost seriousness.

“I am indeed human, but I know water magic. So it’s only natural that I can last a little longer underwater.”

Sophia flashed forward, seized Wang Xi by the collar, and bared her pale, pointed fangs.

“Listen! I—”

Wang Xi showed no fear. Instead, he gave her a gentle smile and said softly:

“If Miss Sophia is unwilling to kiss my hand, then forget it. It was only a little game, after all. There’s no need to take it so seriously.”

Those words made the twin-tailed girl grind her teeth.

“I…”

She drew a deep breath, her expression shifting several times. Then she suddenly released him, grabbed Wang Xi’s arm, and pulled it toward her mouth—

Wang Xi cried out in pain.

By the time everyone saw clearly, a faint bite mark had appeared on his hand, still damp with moisture and carrying a trace of sugary sweetness.

Sophia had already darted three meters away.

“Of course I honor my bet!” she declared, hurriedly wiping her lips. The tips of her ears were bright red beneath her hood. “But don’t get any funny ideas! That was the highest form of respect among the Direwolves!”

Ding!

“Target defeated!”

“Would you like to capture Sophia’s ability?”

Wang Xi endured the pain in his hand and cursed inwardly at how viciously the brat had bitten him. Nevertheless, he silently gave his consent.

At once, blue light flashed across Sophia’s body, and a sphere of light flew into Wang Xi’s brow.

Another blue card!

At that moment, Beve swirled the ice-sugar goblet in her hand and said with a teasing smile:

“That can’t be right. I’ve never heard that biting someone’s hand is the highest form of respect among Direwolves…”

“Shut up, you rotten hag, Beve!”